A few observations from opening days in Yellowstone
Happy Thermal Thursday! In this post, I’m sharing a few more of the smaller observations from the beginning of the 2019 summer season.
Depression Geyser
The amount of microbes growing in the overflow from Depression Geyser somewhat surprised me. I believe that’s mainly due to colder air temperatures as I found a photo from last May that also showed microbes in there. I’ve not seen an eruption yet this year, but the few I did see last year were not very vigorous compared to past years. Basically, more observations are needed to come to any sort of conclusion here.
Belgian Spring
During the two days I spent in the park in April, bison must have walked through part of Belgian Spring (near Grand Geyser) sometime between April 19 and 20. While this is not unusual, what surprised me was while standing there, a bubble rose from the location of the second vent – in that area the bison disturbed. I doubt it will open up again, but seeing that one, tiny bubble did make it interesting enough to note.
Victory Geyser
While checking on things down basin, I noticed that Victory Geyser is still overflowing nicely with no microbes growing in the vent itself. I stood there for a couple of minutes and never saw any bubbles rising.
Oblong Geyser and Solstice Geyser
As of May 3, 2019, Oblong Geyser did not appear to be active but has a lovely growth of microbes growing on its platform. In the background on the photo, you can also see Solstice Geyser, which apparently from reports is acting as a continual spouter.
Area Behind Spasmodic
The small spring that opened up behind Spasmodic Geyser was seen bubbling and spitting up water a couple of inches on one pass by. This coincided with activity from the front bubblers of Spasmodic. There was no bubbling on another pass by, and the water level in Spasmodic was below overflow. This leads me to guess this is yet another vent for Spasmodic. However, more observations are needed to tell that for sure. For now, it’s just a strong hunch.
West Thumb Geyser Basin Report
Over at West Thumb Geyser Basin, Ledge Spring is full and overflowing and having periodic boiling. When I was at Thumb Paint Pots, I heard oohs and ahhs with the excitement of visitors – which could have been an eruption. When I arrived at Ledge Spring, the overflow channel had standing water in many spots. I waited for about an hour without seeing an eruption. Whether eruptions are actually happening is yet to be confirmed. But at least it has life. There’s also a small (likely continuous) spouter between “Three-lobed spring” and Thumb Geyser.
More interesting (to me at least), was seeing the water levels down in Bluebell Pool and Seismograph Pool. They’ve overflowed continuously since I started serious documentation of this area about 15 years ago. To see the drop in water levels was a genuine surprise. A more thorough report from West Thumb is to come, but writing it up more thoroughly from notes and photos still needs to happen.
